Healthy Howard, the program helping uninsured residents gain access to health care, has received a vote of confidence to continue for another year amid funding issues.

At least three of the five members of Howard County Council said they would support the $500,000 price tag needed to continue the program for another fiscal year, according to the Baltimore Sun. The program, originally intended to aid thousands of Howard County residents without health insurance, will likely be limited to an enrollment of 750 due to an inability to gain more funding, according to the report. As of the end of April, the program had 621 people enrollees.

Data presented to county leaders show that Healthy Howard has screened 6,089 people, discovering that 3,789 were eligible for existing insurance plans and 789 eventually enrolled in the county program, according to the report. Program leaders said 178 dropped out of the program for reasons such as changes in income and cost of the program, which charges participants between $50 and $85 per month for medical services.

Healthy Howard leaders added that an anticipated $500,000 in funding from the Horizon Foundation instead became a $150,000 contribution, while other foundations have refused donations to the program either out of concerns with the current economy or as they see Howard County as one of the wealthiest county in the state and feel the government should pay for the program, according to the Sun.

Horizon’s president and CEO, Richard M. Krieg, said its first-year contribution to Healthy Howard was a “one-time” matching grant and not a reoccurring donation, the report said.

Howard County officials are scheduled to finalize their budget for fiscal 2011, beginning July 1, on May 19, including the allocation of money for the Healthy Howard program.